Erie velodrome moving forward along County Line Road

Boulder Valley track opening pushed back to spring

By Jason Blevins The Denver Post

Posted:
10/31/2012 04:00:00 PM MDT

From the plains of east Boulder County springs a cycling dream.

By early next spring, Frank Banta and Doug Emerson envision hordes of brakeless, fixed-gear cyclists spinning speedy laps around the steep walls of Colorado's second velodrome, a vision nearly a decade in the making.

The Boulder Valley Velodrome -- the country's 27th outdoor velodrome -- is following a unique business plan, catering to cycling clubs. It's a hockey rink model -- with clubs buying time on the 250-meter track for members. And it's anchored in the notion that everyone who likes to pedal will eventually want to spin in a velodrome.

"We are at a precipice of seeing a resurgence in track riding," said Emerson, who started Boulder's famed University Cycles bike shop from his garage 28 years ago. "You can't find a major metro area that isn't looking to develop a velodrome. The time is ripe."

The labor of love is happening thanks to the efforts and dollars of Emerson and Banta, a longtime general contractor from Boulder.

"Selling clubs and founding members on the track before opening is like trying to get a girlfriend without a car," says Emerson, as he rolls a rubberized gray paint onto the track. "Well, now we have the car, and it's an awesome car."

About half of the 250-foot trusses are up, each cut to specific angles to form the hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped track. A hole in the infield will house a below-grade warehouse for members' track bikes and rental bikes alongside a clubhouse.

Interest is growing as the duo goes vertical. The only other velodrome in Colorado is in Colorado Springs and is part of the U.S. Olympic Training Center. In April, Boulder Indoor Cycling shuttered its velodrome after only four years of operation.

Banta and Emerson were not pleased to see the business close, but they are confident their model will succeed. They are building a track less geared toward experts and more aligned with international race standards. There isn't municipal or corporate ownership, which allows Banta and Emerson to nimbly craft a unique setting for clubs, teams, classes and training as traffic flow at the track develops.

"We have a club concept, not an elite venue for Olympians," Banta said. "We want a culture where everybody can feel comfortable coming out here. Nobody else has tried our approach."

While not specifically open to the public, club members can have regular access to the track. Banta and Emerson see clubs scheduling their regular rides to include interval training sessions on the track, using track bikes stored in the infield warehouse. They see programs for beginners, even kids on Striders. The track can host national contests, and the site plan includes room for 250 bleacher seats. So far they have enlisted about seven clubs and have room for three more for the launch in the spring.

Cari Higgins, a professional track cyclist from Boulder, regularly commutes to Colorado Springs to train. The indoor track in Boulder was too small and not suitable for her training. She even moves to Los Angeles regularly to train at the AEG-owned Velo Sports Center, part of the 125-acre Home Depot Center complex and the only indoor track in the country.

"Their idea is 'build it and they will come,' and Boulder is the prime community for that," said Higgins, who is a founding member of the Boulder Valley track and has been fielding "tons of calls" from teams looking to secure training time on the new velodrome. "I think Doug and Frank are going to be shocked by the actual number of people who want to participate when the track is built. It's going to be huge."